Can Your Horoscope Sign Change?

Your horoscope sign is determined when you are born. At the moment you take your first breath, the Sun, the Moon, and the planets all sit in various signs of the zodiac. They form a pattern in the sky, which astrologers capture virtually in a computer program or else on paper when they create your birth chart.

Horoscope Sign: Fixed At Birth

Whatever sign the Sun occupies at the moment you come into earthly life is your horoscope sign. It’s also called your Sun sign, your astrology sign, or your zodiac sign…or simply your sign.

Does Your Horoscope Sign Change?

If you’re like many people, you already know your sign and may have read forecasts for it online or in a newspaper or magazine.

In the past few years, you may have heard that your sign is changing. That’s because a Minnesota astronomer who didn’t know much about astrology announced in 2011 that his observations of the stars revealed that the constellations as we’ve known them for thousands of years are off by about a month because they have shifted backwards from where they were 2,000 years ago.

In 2015, more rumors swirled about astrology, this time about the existence of a supposed 13th sign, Ophiuchus. Many, many people worried their sign had changed.

Your Sign Is Still The Same

Despite this rumor, your horoscope sign is still the same as it ever was. That’s because western astrology (the dominant astrology in the U.S. and the rest of the western hemisphere) is based on the seasons, not the actual position of the stars and constellations.

All astrologers are aware that the stars’ positions have shifted backwards a bit in the past 2,000 years. Today, when we say the Sun is in the early degrees of Aries, for example, it actually is moving through the sector of the sky that holds the constellation of Pisces. The difference now between the signs’ sectors and the constellations they’re associated with is about 24 degrees (out of 360 total degrees for the vast circle or dome of the sky that surrounds our Earth).

The One Exception

There’s just one exception. If you were born at the edge or a sign, it’s possible that you may have assumed you were one horoscope sign when in reality you were the one right next to it. That’s because people born on the edges of the signs must verify which sign they truly are. The Sun’s movement between signs occurs at slightly different times from year to year, and sometimes it may be up to two days earlier or later than usual.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I was born on the 27th of July, a LEO and proud to be, i don’t want to change into any other Zodiac( with respect to all of them), this really is upseting me, this new change should be for the newly born, but for those who were already born should have the right to stay in their Zodiacs 😊

A Leo – wonderful! You will definitely always be a LEO, and the zodiac is staying the same for everyone, no matter whether they were born a while ago or are being born now. Thanks for visiting and for commenting. And happy belated birthday to you!

If you were born November 16, you are definitely a Scorpio. And you will always be a Scorpio! Every now and then, there’s talk about the signs changing – and that information is incorrect and based on a misunderstanding of astrology and how it works. As you can see in my article above on this page, the date ranges for all the signs remain the same, always. So, again, you are a Scorpio, and you will stay one!

Hey, just a question. I’m a Virgo (21.sep) and I’m thinking about getting a virgo sign tattoo. I’m worried I could become Libra at some point, in which case the tattoo would be kinda awkward. Is that even possible?

That’s a good question! With a 21 September birth date, you were born near the time the sign changes from Virgo to Libra. If you have your birth chart, created using the exact time of day you were born, plus the exact day and year and location, you will have an accurate birth chart that tells you for sure what your sign is. And it will always be the same sign for you, throughout your life. (NOTE: This is for traditional western astrology, as practiced in most of the western hemisphere, which is what you’ll see on websites like mine and in newspapers and magazines; in vedic astrology, a type of astrology practiced in India and some other parts of the world, the sign calculations differ significantly.)

Actually, if you were born April 20, it’s possible you’re a Taurus, depending on when the Sun changed signs the year you were born. You can check to see what sign you really are with our free birth chart service:

I don’t believe that i am a gemini because my birth month is on june 21 and some says that i am a cancer and a gemini i am really confuse and when i see the characteristics of gemini and cancer the cancer is more accurately telling my personality

Thank you for getting in touch, Hallo. Yes, you’re right at the edge of two different signs – Gemini and Cancer. You may very well be a Cancer! When you’re born so close to the time the Sun changes signs, it’s a good idea to check for sure what your sign is. You can do that right now on our Free Birth Chart page. You’ll find easy instructions there on how to do it, instantly, with our free chart service. Click this button to go to the page now:

Hi, Shanaia. Thanks for getting in touch. You are definitely Capricorn if born on 25 December, according to the dates for western astrology (the most common type of astrology in the western hemisphere and various parts of the eastern hemisphere). That’s the astrology you typically see used for newspaper and magazine astrology columns as well as online, particularly in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and other western-influenced parts of the world. Very interesting times for you: the eclipses are falling in Cancer and Capricorn these days, so the one coming later this month will be in YOUR sign, Capricorn. See if anything shifts for you this month and in the next 6 months!